If Guy Ritchie went to Hong Kong to direct an episode of Heroes, the result might not be far off Push. As it is, Paul McGuigan - of Gangster No 1 and Lucky Number Slevin fame - is in the director's chair. He brings us a story of normal people who possess abnormal powers thanks to a sinister government experiment carried out in the post-war years to create deadly human weapons.
This is all explained in Dakota Fanning's rambling voice-over during the opening credits. It's just as well, since what follows is a deeply confusing story about one set of disgruntled youths fighting another for reasons that are often unclear. Cassie (Fanning) is a "watcher", which means she can see the future. Nick (Chris Evans) is a "mover", which means he can move things using his brain. And Kira (Camilla Belle) is a "pusher", which means she can get into people's heads.
While Cassie frantically scribbles her psychic snapshots on a notepad, Nick is shifting dice an inch to the right to ensure maximum winnings and Kira is convincing people of things that didn't happen. She is also the first of her kind to survive a deadly injection, and has escaped from hospital with a syringe of the venom. Division, an organisation peopled by suited everythugs, is after her. Cassie and Nick must track down Kira and her briefcase, which contains the syringe, before Division does. Otherwise, as Cassie artfully shows Nick on her pad (picture two heads with tongues lolling out): "We die."
A triad gang, each with their own powers - including the piece de resistance, a scream so loud it can kill - are equally intent on stopping them. So that's the set-up: opposing teams with various superhuman skills are all after the briefcase. The mists of confusion begin to swirl as we move from one Crouching Tiger-style fight scene to another. There is also some hiding in a noodle shop and talk of unhappy childhoods (the characters' parents were also endowed with such advanced powers that Division had to step in).
What exactly they are doing wiping each other's memories, sending guns floating across the room to stick against each other's temples and predicting what the other gangs will do in retaliation is not always clear. But it certainly looks good. And using the humdrum of Hong Kong as the setting was a clever move: we are often so busy looking at the dazzling forest of skyscrapers and grimy floating markets that we don't actually care what's happening. The interior shots are equally slick, with each room a designer's kitsch dream of dragons and 1960s prints.
In fact, the film's visual flair could have almost been enough to save it, if only the casting had been better. Why, for instance, is the 28-year-old Evans attempting to play a 16-year-old? Is Hollywood not bursting at the seams with young bucks just right for a renegade superhuman role? And while Fanning may have been perfect for the wide-eyed innocence of Charlotte's Web and The Secret Life of Bees, her miniskirted 13-year-old with dyed-red hair and streetwise attitude only serves to prove the difficulties child actors face in navigating the choppy seas of teendom. And Belle, who as Kira only has to look inscrutably pale and wan (her allegiance is unclear, you see), is woefully underused.
For all its style and swagger, Push is something of a hat without the rabbit. The story has promise but is poorly executed. And the cast is too bland to make us care whether or not they end up with their tongues lolling out of their mouths. In fact, the whole experience would be improved immeasurably if you hit the mute button. Then you won't have to listen to our Chinese friend's glass-shattering screams.